Advantech announced a fanless industrial computer that supports Intel Core i7 or i5 CPUs. Sporting six programmable function keys on its front panel, he ARK-3440 has two 2.5-inch drive bays, two gigabit Ethernet ports, four expansion slots, and six USB 2.0 ports, the company says.

Advantech touts the ARK-3440 as offering more processing power per cubic inch than any other fanless industrial computer. The device is available with two of the embedded-specific Core CPUs Intel introduced in January, the Core i7 610E (2.53GHz, with 3.20GHz turbo boost frequency and 35 Watt TDP) and the Core i5 520E (2.4GHz, with 2.93GHz turbo boost frequency and 35 Watt TDP), the company says.

According to Advantech, the ARK-3440 may also be purchased with a 1.86GHz Celeron P4505 CPU (with dual cores and a 35 Watt TDP), which, like the Core CPUs, is manufactured using a 32nm process and includes on-chip graphics. In every case, the system uses Intel's QM57 Express chipset, for an overall two-chip solution (see block diagram here).

The front (left) and rear (right) of Advantech's ARK-3440 (Click either image to enlarge)

A novel feature of the ARK-3440, pictured above, is the six programmable function keys mounted on the device's front panel. The system also has what appears to be a door providing front access to its two bays for 2.5-inch hard disk drives, plus its Type I/II CompactFlash slot.

The ARK-3440's rear panel, meanwhile, provides access to two of the system's expansion slots, one PCI Express x1 slot and one PCI slot. (Optionally, these can be replaced by two PCI Express x1 slots, or by two PCI slots.) The device also has two Mini PCI Express slots internally, allowing for options such as wireless networking cards, according to Advantech.

The ARK-3440 has six USB 2.0 ports (four on the front, two on the rear), three serial ports (two RS232, one RS232/422/485), an eSATA port, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, says Advantech. The PC also has a microphone input, line input, line output, plus both HDMI and DVI-I video outputs, the company says.

Advantech says the ARK-3440, which accepts a maximum 4GB of DDR3 RAM, uses a maximum of 48 Watts without expansion cards. Using CompactFlash for storage, the device works from -4 to 131 deg. F (-20 to 55 deg. C) and tolerates shocks of up to 50G (11ms duration), according to the company.

Features and specifications listed by Advantech for the ARK-3440 include:

Advantech did not cite pricing for the ARK-3440 but said the device will begin sampling in May. The device runs Linux (Fedora 9), as well as Windows 7, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded, and Windows CE, the company says.

More information on the ARK-3440 may be found on the Advantech website, here.